“I want you to play with me this Saturday night, at the club.”
“Don’t you have to work?”
He shook his head. “No, I have the night off. Mace is managing the club on Saturday night.” Roarke, Club Decadence’s owner, usually filled in when Dylan needed to take leave. But Roarke had a newborn now. So they’d hired Mace as a back-up manager. He needed some experience managing the club on his own, which would give Dylan more time to seduce Tilly.
Mace was the perfect choice. He had a good head on his shoulders and knew how to keep his cool. Dylan knew the club was in good hands on the nights he wouldn’t be working. The nights he would hopefully be spending with the pretty blonde tucked in against him.
He pulled up to the curb outside her apartment.
“Wait for me to open your door,” he demanded before stepping out of the truck. His gaze roamed his surroundings, constantly on alert. Coming around the truck, he opened the door and helped Tilly down.
“Are you expecting trouble?” she asked. He placed a hand on the small of her back as they headed for the front door. He loved touching her and intended to take every chance he got.
“What? No, why? Has there been trouble around here?”
“No, it’s a pretty good neighborhood. You just seem to be searching for something.”
He opened the door for her and they walked through and down the hallway to her first-floor apartment.
“You can never be too careful,” he told her.
Once the door was unlocked, he stepped into the small apartment. The place was sparsely furnished with a tiny couch he’d be scared to sit on, a television and cheap looking shelves that held some photos and books.
Dylan walked over and studied the photos. There was one of Tilly and four large men. A couple of them had the same pale blond hair she had. Her brothers?
“I’m not going to have sex with you,” Tilly blurted out.
Dylan turned, raising his eyebrows, the photo still in his hand. He quickly put it down as he turned to her.
“N-not tonight and not when we play at the club on Saturday,” she told him.
Dylan watched her for a long moment, wondering how to approach this. He could back off, but would he lose all the ground he’d gained tonight?
“Why not? Don’t you find me attractive?” he asked in a low drawl.
Tilly swallowed heavily, running her gaze over his body. She licked her lips and it was all he could do not to take her into his arms and claim her mouth with his.
“You know I find you attractive,” she replied.
“Really? What do you find attractive about me?”
“Are you fishing for compliments?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Maybe I’m feeling a bit insecure. After all, you rejected me four times before agreeing to go out with me, and you just told me you aren’t going to have sex with me. I guess there’s something you don’t like about me.”
Eyes wide, she gaped at him. “Are you kidding? It’s me who should be feeling insecure. I’m the fat, pudgy one, while you—”
This time he couldn’t hold back. Insulting herself wasn’t something he would tolerate. Moving swiftly toward her, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into the air. She clasped her legs around him instinctively as he turned so she was leaning back against the wall and kissed her deeply.
He pulled back to give her a stern look. “No talking about yourself that way, understand? You are not fat or pudgy. You are beautiful.”
“Me?” she asked with surprise. “But I’m just well, me.”
“Yes, and I like you. Just the way you are.”
Was he serious? Tilly gazed up into his face and could see that he was. Her ex had a long list of things about her that he’d wanted her to change. He’d even written them out and stuck them on the fridge to humiliate her. Every time his friends came over they’d seen the list.
They’d all known how inadequate she was.